Larna Campbell is six foot tall or seven if you include her afro. She is sat opposite me in The Bell talking in a voice so deep that she makes Barry White sound like Kenneth Williams. I am a little bit scared and a little bit excited, which is exactly how I like my art. Larna is currently exhibiting at the View from the Top Gallery from 27 November to the 3 December as part of Art Fusion North. This is a diverse group of artists who use a wide range of media. Larna is particularly interested in paper and sits opposite me during the interview making the tiniest origami’s flies I have ever seen. Even their wings flap. Although she is not impressed with my offering, a paper plane made out of four folds, she agrees to do the interview.

Tell us about your background
I have two degrees:  BA French - German and BA Fine Art.  I had wanted to study art but as I was very academic at school I was discouraged by teachers.  So, I enjoyed studying and lived abroad in France and Germany which was a great experience but when I finished I realised that I needed to study art.  So I did an art foundation course for a year and I haven't looked back since.  I still use my languages so I am grateful for my first Uni experience, but I'm very glad not to be a student anymore!  I graduated in June of this year. 

Now something more personal
I love pickled eggs!

Five words which describe your work..
Bold, layered, linear, materiality, tactile

Five words which describe yourself, pickled eggs aside
Positive, relaxed, curious, interesting, interested

Which artists do you admire and why?
I find a wide variety of work interesting.  I think Andy Goldsworthy's large sculptures such as the ones on show at Yorkshire Sculpture Park are very impressive and formally very interesting to look at.  Chillida is one of sculptors I admire most and David Mach, in particular for his large scale magazine pieces.  I think the Chapman Brothers are great craftsmen as well as being successful at making issue based work.  I am also interested in performance and really enjoyed a recent exhibition by Clare Charnley which was about communicating in languages that she herself doesn't understand.

Have you taken part in exhibitions before?
Yes.  The first piece of work I submitted for an exhibition was called Assimilation.  It's a large sculpture made from old copies of a Landscape Design journal that I found when I moved studios at Uni. I hadn't really considered showing work outside of university at that point but as the sculpture was so large, I couldn't keep it in my studio so that encouraged me to try and get it into a show. It was shown in Sense  & Sensuality 2006 at Bankside Gallery in London.

What was the purpose of the exhibition?
The exhibition was organised by BlindArt, and was an exhibition of tactile art by sighted and visually impaired artists.  I liked the way the viewer could touch the work as it meant that they could experience the material in a similar way to me.  I enjoy the repetition of tearing and bruising the different papers, the feel of the material between my hands. 

So you’re a pickled egg and paper kind of girl?
I really love working with paper, it's just so versatile, more versatile than eggs. I also believe that using an everyday material to make art allows the viewer to connect with the work on a different level as everyone has touched and felt and smelt paper and has an existing relationship to it. 

Maybe we should send you some Leftlion magazines to work with?
That would be lovely, there are some great illustrators on the magazine

And writers…
And of course writers.